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Spanish Grammar Bank

SPANISH CONDITIONAL TENSE

The Spanish conditional tense is used to express hypothetical situations, polite requests, or actions that would happen under certain conditions.

Be careful with the conjugations, but do not fear! We teach you everything there is to know.

INTRODUCTION

The conditional tense in Spanish, referred to as Condicional Simple (or Condicional), is a tense that is generally used to place the action expressed by the verb either at a later point in time than that of another past event or within a hypothetical framework, like for example:

Él dijo que volvería a España.

He said he would return to Spain.

In the example above, the verb volver (to return/go back) expresses an action that takes place at a later point in time in relation to the earlier event, él dijo (he said).

So the Condicional in this case sets the stage for an action that follows another (past) event.

FORMING THE CONDITIONAL TENSE

The Continuous Tense in Spanish is formed by adding a pattern of endings to the infinitive form of the regular verbs. These specific endings are identical for all three conjugations (-ar, -er, -ir).

FOR REGULAR VERBS

When forming the Condicional in Spanish with regular verbs, these will maintain their infinitive endings and a specific pattern of endings is added, which is the same for all three verb conjugations (-ar, -er, -ir).

To conjugate regular verbs in the Condicional tense, attach the corresponding endings below to the infinitive form of the verb (-ar, -er, -ir).

Subject PronounEnding
Yo-ía
-ías
Él/Ella/Usted-ía
Nosotros/as-íamos
Vosotros/as-íais
Nosotros/as-ían

Examples:

Using the verb llamar (to call)
Subject PronounconjugationEnglish Translation
YollamaríaI would call.
llamaríasYou would call.
Él/Ella/UstedllamaríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would call.
Nosotros/asllamaríamosWe would call.
Vosotros/asllamaríaisYou (all) would call.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedesllamaríanThey/You (formal, plural) would call.
Using the verb andar (to walk)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YoandaríaI would walk.
andaríasYou would walk.
Él/Ella/UstedandaríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would walk.
Nosotros/asandaríamosWe would walk.
Vosotros/asandaríaisYou (all) would walk.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedesandaríanThey/You (formal, plural) would walk.
View More Examples:
Using the verb correr (to run)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YocorreríaI would run.
correríasYou would run.
Él/Ella/UstedcorreríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would run.
Nosotros/ascorreríamosWe would run.
Vosotros/ascorreríaisYou (all) would run.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedescorreríanThey/You (formal, plural) would run.
Using the verb volver (to return/go back)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YovolveríaI would go back.
volveríasYou would go back.
Él/Ella/UstedvolveríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would go back.
Nosotros/asvolveríamosWe would go back.
Vosotros/asvolveríaisYou (all) would go back.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedesvolveríanThey/You (formal, plural) would go back.
Using the verb pedir (to ask)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YopediríaI would ask.
pediríasYou would ask.
Él/Ella/UstedpediríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would ask.
Nosotros/aspediríamosWe would ask.
Vosotros/aspediríaisYou (all) would ask.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedespediríanThey/You (formal, plural) would ask.
Using the verb dormir (to sleep)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YodormiríaI would sleep.
dormiríasYou would sleep.
Él/Ella/UsteddormiríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would sleep.
Nosotros/asdormiríamosWe would sleep.
Vosotros/asdomiríaisYou (all) would sleep.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedesdormiríanThey/You (formal, plural) would sleep.

FOR IRREGULAR VERBS

In Spanish, some verbs are irregular in the Condicional because they have a stem change.

Meaning, they undergo a spelling change, although they still follow the regular pattern of endings as the regular verbs (-ar, -er, -ir) in the conditional tense.

These are some of the most commonly used irregular verbs in the conditional tense:

InfinitiveStem
hacer (to do)har-
poder (to be able to)podr-
tener (to have)tendr-
saber (to know)sabr-
salir (to leave)saldr-
venir (to come)vendr-

Let’s see some examples:

Using the verb hacer (to do)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YoharíaI would do.
haríasYou would do.
Él/Ella/UstedharíaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would do.
Nosotros/asharíamosWe would do.
Vosotros/asharíaisYou (all) would do.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedesharíanThey/You (formal, plural) would do.
Using the verb poder (to be able to)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YopodríaI would be able to.
podríasYou would be able to.
Él/Ella/UstedpodríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would be able to.
Nosotros/aspodríamosWe would be able to.
Vosotros/aspodríaisYou (all) would be able to.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedespodríanThey/You (formal, plural) would be able to.
View More Examples:
Using the verb tener (to have)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YotendríaI would have.
tendríasYou would have.
Él/Ella/UstedtendríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would have.
Nosotros/astendríamosWe would have.
Vosotros/astendríaisYou (all) would have.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedestendríanThey/You (formal, plural) would have.
Using the verb saber (to know)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YosabríaI would know.
sabríasYou would know.
Él/Ella/UstedsabríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would know.
Nosotros/assabríamosWe would know.
Vosotros/assabríaisYou (all) would know.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedessabríanThey/You (formal, plural) would know.
Using the verb salir (to leave)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YosaldríaI would leave.
saldríasYou would leave.
Él/Ella/UstedsaldríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would leave.
Nosotros/assaldríamosWe would leave.
Vosotros/assaldríaisYou (all) would leave.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedessaldríanThey/You (formal, plural) would leave.
Using the verb venir (to come)
Subject PronounConjugationEnglish Translation
YovendríaI would come.
vendríasYou would come.
Él/Ella/UstedvendríaHe/She/You (formal, singular) would come.
Nosotros/asvendríamosWe would leave.
Vosotros/asvendríaisYou (all) would come.
Ellos/Ellas/UstedesvendríanThey/You (formal, plural) would come.

USAGES OF THE CONDITIONAL TENSE

The Conditional tense has a series of different possible uses, mainly:

• to introduce a hypothetical or imaginary situation.

• to express polite requests or politely communicate a wish.

• to give mild-mannered orders, suggestions or advise in a toned-down manner.

• to refer to a future action from a past perspective, indicating in a way what was going to happen.

usespanishenglish
hypothetical or imaginary situations Si tuviera más tiempo, aprendería a conducir. If I had more time, I would learn to drive.
hypothetical or imaginary situations Andaría cada día a trabajar si viviera más cerca de la oficina. I would walk every day to work if I lived closer to the office.
order or advise in a toned-down manner Convendría enviarle un mensaje antes de ir a su casa. It would be advisable to send him a message before going to his house.
order or advise in a toned-down manner Cerraría las ventanas antes de salir. I would close the windows before leaving.
request or communicate a wish in a polite way Quisiera reservar mesa para dos. I would like to reserve a table for two.
request or communicate a wish in a polite way Preferiría pedir para llevar y no tener que cocinar hoy. I would rather take out and not have to cook today.
future action from a past perspective Mis amigos dijeron que llegarían antes de las cinco. My friends said they would arrive before five.
future action from a past perspective Pensaba que iríamos juntos al gimnasio. I thought we would go to the gym together.

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FAQs

What is the Spanish conditional tense used for ?

The conditional tense is used to express hypothetical situations, polite requests, future actions in the past, and to indicate what would happen under certain conditions.

How do you form the Spanish conditional tense?

The conditional tense is formed by adding the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, and -ían to the infinitive form of the verb, for example:

hablaría (I would speak)

comerías (you would eat).

What difference between conditional and future?

The future tense is used to talk about what will happen, while the conditional tense is used to describe what would happen under certain conditions or in hypothetical situations.

Are there any irregular verbs in the conditional tense?

Yes, some verbs have irregular stems in the conditional tense, but they use the same endings as regular verbs. For example: tener becomes tendría (I would have), and hacer becomes haría (I would do/make).

Can we use conditional for polite requests?

Yes, the conditional tense is often used to make polite requests or suggestions, such as

¿Podrías ayudarme? (Could you help me?)

or

Me gustaría un café, por favor (I would like a coffee, please).

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